Wonder why the washing machine wouldn’t drain…

That’s the drain filter. This is a really poorly designed machine (Kenmore 970-C47092-10). It’s very hard to get at the filter.

Symptom: Cycle stops partway with START light flashing, after prolonged loud pumping noises. Clothes are still soapy and wet. Press and hold START and Pause/Cancel – see error code E21. In the Technical Data Sheet (taped inside the bottom of the machine), this is “Water not pumping out fast enough”.

Repair steps:

Great video here which I followed: https://www.appliancepartspros.com/frigidaire-hose-134455900-ap3837322.html

Turn off the breaker!

Mop up as much of the water from inside the machine as possible.

Pull the washer/dryer out and tip the back to allow access to the bottom panel screws.

Remove the two bottom panel screws, and remove the panel.

This exposes the “Hose, coin trap, tub-to-pump” (part 134455900), which contains the “Filter, pump” (part 134885800).

Put down towels under the hose, and have a bunch more piled nearby. Unscrew the screw clamp. Carefully slide the hose partway off the bottom of the tub, controlling the flow of water while switching out towels as they become saturated.

Use pliers to remove the two spring clamps on the hose. The one connecting to the “air chamber” is pretty hard to get at. Now the whole hose/filter assembly can be removed, and you get to see why the washer was not draining (see the highlight pic at the top of the post).

Work the filter up out from the inside of the hose, and clean it. Here’s all the stuff I pulled out of it:

Yikes.

Now put it all back together. As noted in the linked video, make sure the filter is in the third fold down inside the hose. Getting the spring clamps back on is a pain, especially the air chamber one (do it first). I ended up breaking the air chamber off of its mount by accident, which meant I could pull it forwards and get the hose back on easily. Once everything is in place the hose seems to hold the air chamber in the right position anyhow.

After reassembling, test using the instructions in the Tech Data Sheet to force the machine to fill, spin, and drain – checking for leaks.

All better!

The repair sites recommend cleaning the filter once a month, but given how huge a job it is, the lesson learned here is: Next time, buy a washing machine with a filter access port on the front!! Also, empty pockets before loading clothes into the machine.